Placement of Adverbs

An adverb may appear in various positions. However, it may NOT be placed between a verb and its object.
I wrapped carefully the gift carefully.
I often get often headaches.
Here are some general rules of what goes where.

before the word modified

Type of adverb
Example
Remarks
Degree
[intensifiers]		 I'm very good at spelling. modifying the adjective "good"
Jack plays golf really well. modifying the adverb "well"

An adverb modifying an adjective or another adverb is placed before the word it modifies.

Exception: "Enough" which is placed after the adjective or adverb it modifies.

• They're rich enough to own three cars. [modifying the adjective "rich"]
• I can't walk fast enough to keep up with you! [modifying the adverb "fast"]


at the end of a clause

  Type of adverb  
Example
Remarks
Manner He sings beautifully.
They worked hard before going to the concert. but before any prepositional phrases or subordinated clauses
Place The children are playing upstairs.
Time I saw her yesterday.

Adverbs of manner, place and time are generally placed at the end of a clause or sentence.

Adverb Word Order: When there is more than one adverb in the end position, they usually come in this order: manner, place, time.

e.g., He sang beautifully in the concert hall last night.


at the beginning of a clause

  Type of adverb  
Example
Remarks
Comment Honestly, I don't think he can be trusted. separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma
Connecting Normally, Jack is very polite. However, his recent behaviour is terrible. adverb connects a clause to what came before
Time Tomorrow I've got a meeting in the northern district.
The weather is sunny today, but tomorrow it will rain. contrasting with a previous reference to time.


at mid-position:
between a helping verb1 & its main verb

  Type of adverb  
Example
Remarks
Indefinite frequency 2 You can always come and stay with us.
Focusing 3 You're only wearing a T-shirt.
Certainty We'll probably go to New Zealand next year.
Degree I've completely forgotten your birthday.

1 There are 23 auxillary or helping words in English including
• nine modals (which function only as helping verbs),
• be (be, am, are, is, was, were, being, been),
• do (do, does, did) and
• have (have, has, had).

2 These adverbs say how often something happens without saying the exact frequency (e.g., always, ever, frequently, never, normally, occasionally, rarely, seldom, sometimes, rarely, usually).

3 Focusing adverbs (e.g., also, even, just, only, mainly, mostly, either, or, neither, nor) emphasize one part of the clause.


at mid-position:
after am/are/is/was/were as the main verb

  Type of adverb  
Example
Remarks
Indefinite frequency My boss is often bad-tempered.
Focusing The participants were mainly women.
Certainty That was definitely the best movie I've seen all year.
Degree I'm partly responsible for the accident.